Smarter Satellites on Pentagon Shopping List

By Eric Niiler

Published November 20, 2002 at 10:00 PM MST

Defense officials ask Congress to approve new dual-use satellites that can distinguish between "airbursts" caused by random asteroids sneaking into the atmosphere and exploding warheads. NPR's Eric Niiler reports.

Eric Niiler

Eric Niiler reports for NPR's national desk. His work can be heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and other NPR newsmagazines. Before moving to his current post, Niiler was a reporter for NPR's Day to Day program, and also filed pieces for NPR's national and science desks.